© Copyright 2001 by Meag Brorman
Chapter Three
Lexa hurried to catch the elevator before the doors closed.
“Forty-ninth floor please,” she told the guy in the elevator.
She’d been working at Cameron Burke’s office for a week now and what an interesting week it had been. She had found out that Cameron fluctuated between two moods. There was his surly mood that Lexa had dubbed his “bear mood” and his absentminded mood. She couldn’t say that he was forgetful, per se. He had a sharp mind and knew the business world inside and out no doubt. No, that wasn’t the problem. It was more like he concentrated so hard on his work that he forgot little things like her name, where he last sat down his files, and where he was meeting a client for lunch. That’s why, she had decided, she was needed. Without an assistant, he would
be lost. Lexa was determined to be the perfect assistant.
The elevator bell broke her reverie and she stepped into the hall and walked toward Mr. Burke’s offices, a smoothie in one hand and cran-apple juice in the other.
“Anastasia!” she heard Mr. Burke yell just as she walked through the door. “Where’s my coffee?” He was in a combination bear and absentminded mood today.
“Coming!” she said and smiled. “And it’s Alexandra,” she reminded him as she walked into his office.
“Yeah, whatever. Now where is my coffee?” he demanded impatiently.
“Would you prefer a strawberry-banana smoothie or cran-apple juice?”
“I would prefer my coffee.”
“Sorry Mr. Burke,” she said cheerfully. “I’ve noticed that you drink four cups of coffee a day and your eating habits are horrendous. I want to see you live a long and healthy life so something has got to change. Now, juice or smoothie,” she asked as she held up the respective cups.
“Neither. I. Want. My. Coffee,” he ground out between clenched teeth. “I have a headache and I got three hours of sleep last night. I need my coffee!” he reiterated.
She ignored him. “How about the smoothie then? You’ll enjoy it. Trust me.” She sat the cup oh his desk and turned to leave.
“If you want to keep your job, you’ll get me my coffee!”
“I don’t think so Mr. Burke. You don’t scare me at all. Now drink. It’s good for you!” she tossed over her shoulder as she left the room.
Why he put up with this insubordination, he didn’t know. Probably
because she was the best secretary he’d ever worked with. Things had run much smoother in the week that she’d been on the job. There were still some bugs to work out though. He picked up the smoothie and looked at it. How was this mess supposed to taste good? It was ground up strawberries, ice, yogurt, and who knew what herbs.
He shuddered. He hated yogurt. He took a drink.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Lexa walked into the office with a massive headache. She’d been up half the night crying after her grandmother had called last night. She had called with the news that she needed a hip replacement.
“No big deal,” her grandmother had said. “People had them all the time.”
Yeah right. Joanne Campbell wasn’t getting any younger. What if something happened and she didn’t make it through the surgery? Lexa had heard of it happening before. Joanne was the only family Lexa had left. She couldn’t lose her too. She had decided last night to stay with her grandmother for the first four weeks after the surgery, even though Joanne had insisted she stay home.
“You have a job to do girl! I can’t have you coming up here to help me out! I have friends. Don’t you worry about me, I’ll be fine.”
“That’s just the thing. I will worry about you. I’ll just worry less if I’m there. Not to mention, Bethany is getting married September 2nd and I’m her maid-of-honor. I’ll need to be up there for fittings anyway. You wouldn’t deny your favorite granddaughter a place to stay now would you Gram?” she went on in her sweetest voice.
Joanne chuckled. “You know exactly how to get to me don’t you, my one and only granddaughter?”
Lexa smiled. “I love you Gram.”
“And I love you. Don’t forget that God loves you more though, Lexa my dear!”
“So I’ll come up in two weeks, near the beginning of August okay?”
“Sounds wonderful. I haven’t seen you in so long honey. We’ll have a lot of catching up to do.”
Now the only thing left to do was let Mr. Burke know she’d be gone for a month. After working with him for six months, she knew he wouldn’t be too happy, of this she was certain.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Cameron looked up as Lexa entered his office.
“I just wanted to remind you that I leave tomorrow for North Dakota. The temp is due to arrive any minute so that I can show her the ropes. I’ve left notes on your calendar so you’ll know when I leave and when I’m due back. If you or the temp have any problems, call Sarah. She knows I’ll be gone and had promised to help out if needed. Any questions?” she asked at the end of the monologue.
Cameron looked at her blankly. “You’re leaving? You never told me!”
Lexa smiled and answered calmly. “Yes, I did. Two weeks ago. You said that was fine. I’ll be gone until September 4th.”
“Four weeks!” he exclaimed disbelievingly. “That can’t be right. I would have never consented to that!”
“Don’t worry Mr. Burke,” Lexa said soothingly. “Things will be fine.” The front door opened.
“That’ll be the temp. I’d better get started.”
Four weeks. Cameron stared off into space. What was he supposed to do without her for four weeks? She kept this place running like a well-oiled machine. He sighed and put his hand up to his neck. It was going to be a long month.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“So tell me about this job of yours. When we talk on the phone you never talk about it. It’s not that bad is it?”
Joanne settled herself as comfortably as possible in her bed. Her hip hurt enough to want to send her howling and she was trying to keep her mind off of the pain. The surgery had gone well, but he recuperation would be hard. It had been a week and a half since the surgery and the doctor said things were looking great so far.
“Are you okay Gram?” Lexa asked anxiously. “Any pain?”
“Just tell me about work girlie,” Joanne digressed. “I want to hear all about it and San Antonio!”
Lexa let her grandmother change the subject. “You already know how much I enjoyed San Antonio when I was going to UTSA and it’s only gotten better. My job…is interesting.”
Joanne shifted. “How so?” she inquired.
Lexa hesitated for a minute. How did one describe Cameron Burke?
As if reading Lexa’s mind Joanne asked, “It’s not your boss is it? Is he treating you well?”
“Well, I wouldn’t say that he treats me badly, but working for Mr. Burke is a challenge.” She went on to tell her grandmother what the past six months had been like.
“Lexa my girl, it looks like you’ve got your work cut out for you!”
Joanne said with a laugh. This Cameron Burke seemed like quite a character to work for. Lexa needed a good challenge and he seemed like the perfect match.
“I will say this, I’m definitely never bored!” Lexa added with a giggle.
Cam checked his watch for the fifth time in as many minutes. What was taking that girl so long? Making copies didn’t take a genius. Lexa had been gone only two weeks, but Cam wondered how much more of this he could take. That temp Lexa had hired couldn’t do anything right.
His indignation toward Lexa grew. How could she do this to him? She didn’t need to be gone for a whole month did she? Cameron couldn’t believe he’d let her off for that long. It was all her fault. If she wasn’t such a nice, undemanding person, and a hard
worker to boot, he wouldn’t be pacing the office like this waiting for some stupid copies. The door opened.
“Here they are Mr.—“
“What took you so long?” he asked impatiently. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to copy a few papers!” He berated her. “I should fire you for this! Help these days. Not respect whatsoever!”
The temp’s lips began to tremble and her eyes filled with tears. Great, he’d made her cry…again. Lexa never cried, no matter what he said to her. He sighed.
“Never mind. Just get back to work and don’t let it happen again.”
Ashlee sat down at her desk and rubbed the tears from her eyes. She didn’t now how Mr. Burke’s secretary handled this job. It was a nightmare! Mr. Burke had yet to say anything even remotely kind to her in the two weeks she’d been there. And there were still two weeks to go. Only by the grace of God would she make it.
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